Women in Linden are in dire need of jobs and those who have jobs mostly in the mining areas are complaining about the working conditions and being sexually harassed by employers.
These were some of the main concerns that came out of a meeting that the Guyana Women Miners Organisation (GWMO) had with around 40 women in Linden last Saturday. The meeting formed part of a wider sensitisation programme that the organisation plans to embark on in the interior location.
“They have a big demand for training, in fact they want to know if next week or even tomorrow it is possible for them to have some training to acquire a job,” President of the GWMO Simona Broomes told Stabroek News.
According to Broomes some of the women who are part of a clean-up group in the township also complained about the male who is in a senior position who they referred to as a “sex predator.” Broomes said many of the women said they are under constant harassment to have sex with male bosses and are disrespected.
One woman, Natasha Lorrimer, was not afraid to have her name listed as she complained about the way she has been treated as an employee of Omai Gold which is building a road in Region 9.
The woman spoke to Stabroek News yesterday and she related that the road is being built between Lethem and Monkey Mountain and presently they are at Karasabai. The woman said she has been employed as a cook with the company since November last and has constantly been fending off sexual harassment by a man at the camp site who she said was always “being fresh.” The 36-year-old single parent of three said that she is one of three women who work with the company at the location but she could not say if the other two women also face the same problem as they have never complained.
The woman also complained that the small room in the camp in which the women sleep and change their clothes does not have a door. The camp of itself also does not have a door although there is a doorway. The women just have a curtain across the doorway to their small sleeping quarters which Lorrimer said she is uncomfortable with.
When she raised the issue with the supervisor he informed her that she was “in the bush and this is bush life.” The woman said she informed him that it is not the first time she is cooking in the bush as she is accustomed to “bush life” but she is also accustomed to having a secure place to sleep and change her clothes. Because she objects to certain things and refused his sexual advances Lorrimer said she had become a target for the man who would verbally abuse her using expletives. A delay in her departing on her time-off earlier this month due to rain caused things to come to a head when she enquired from the man what arrangement was being made for them to leave the camp site since they were delayed by more than a week. She said the man abused her verbally and she also responded in kind and presently she does not know if she has a job. She has not received a call from the company even though her one week time-off has long since expired.
“I am desperate for a job as I have two children to mind but I would not allow people to do me anything,” the woman declared to Stabroek News.
Stabroek News contacted the company’s Linden office and spoke to an executive who gave his name as Bob Miller who when told of the woman’s allegations said that it was the first time he was hearing about them. Asked if the woman was still employed with the company he responded in the affirmative but said they are currently not working because of the rains. When told about the woman’s claim that there is no door to the women’s living quarters Miller responded that it was a “bush camp” and it does not require a door but a curtain would be hung for the women’s privacy.
Lorrimer said the job pays well even though she gets up at 3 am to start preparing breakfast for the men.
Meanwhile, Broomes said because the women are desperate for jobs many of them are prepared to “go through any and everything” to remain employed and make some money for their families.
“That is a major concern,” Broomes said, revealing that her organisation would compile a report with the concerns and she would forward it to the relevant ministers as her organisation is unable to offer all the assistance the women in Linden desperately need.
“Regardless of who it is even if it is companies, you cannot, we will not allow you to come in and to abuse women and try to exploit them. The time has come and we want to put even these companies on notice and the operators of every dredge in the sector…that the organisation intends to expose any exploitation of women,” Broomes stated.
Some of the ladies also complained about being swindled out of properties that were bequeathed to them.
“For me the women in Linden were the worst so far in the sensitization programme when it comes to abuse and these sex predators. And really that struck me because it shows that the demand for jobs, the poverty level, these ladies have to go through these things,” she said.
Broomes said other executive members also met with women from Number 58 Miles on the Mabura Road and the posters -mainly dealing with human trafficking- were posted up in the shops.
Many of the women have small dredges while others partner with their husbands but they are being taken advantage of by persons with bigger operations. According to Broomes the women reported that when they find gold, persons with heavy-duty machines would come and chase them out.
“They named a particular crew of men who would just come and bully them because they have the excavators and all of that,” Broomes told Stabroek News.
She said the women are faced with serious exploitation and many of them were unaware of human trafficking and they shared their knowledge with them.
To help them they formed a group to work a portion of land for the women in that area and are now attempting to get it registered. Thereafter they will make representation to the Minister of Environment & Natural Resources, Robert Persaud to allocate a portion of land to them. The organisation hopes to meet with the minister to discuss the issue and have immediate responses for the ladies whose main concerns are jobs and skills training.
Some of the women are very good cooks and Broomes said they would meet with companies that work in the interior and request that they publicise vacancies for females so that they could recommend some of the ladies who are in need of jobs. They would be returning to the area today and also would be travelling to Mahdia later this week.
Broomes made it clear that her organisation was not “haters of business people and shop owners” but it is calling on men and women who have shops in the interior to cease human trafficking and exploitation.
“I don’t want to refer to it as prostitution because it is not prostitution I am talking about, I am dealing specifically with human trafficking when the ladies are taken to the interior under false pretence and are forced to remain there as sex workers,” she said.
Broomes said almost every day she receives a phone call or is met on the road and persons are making reports and appealing for the organisation to visit specific areas where this offence is being committed. She said while they cannot go to every area because of financial constraints they would log every call and compile a report.
Broomes said persons can call her any time on 645 2979 and provide the organisation with information about what is happening in the interior.
“We have some massive drives coming up as every community and district has a demand,” Broomes said.
